The Cambridge Chat Thread

OP

smilepea

It's just they're giving a background to social theorists (and occasionally liking it in to education) as opposed to looking in depth at sociological problems within education which is what I would be interested in :frown:

I though I would really like sociology but it's turning out to be my least favourite discipline :frown:

Actually the theory is very useful and fruitful to understanding societal problems in Education. However, if its taught badly and overly simplisticly then it makes it pointless even bothering, frankly.

The Education lecture I went to on Monday managed to 'do' Durkheim, Weber, Marx, Bourdieu, Critical Theory and the basics of Discourse Analysis in roughly 15mins :eyeball:

(although 'butcher' may be a more accurate verb than 'do')

Put it this way: a 2hour in-depth lecture would only be adequate for any one of those areas if accompanied by a reasonable amount of reading :shifty:

Reply 4783

Y__

13

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1243

Apparetly, he really got detained... well, I surely feel so much safer now that I know that the border control are keeping all the evil dudes out :tongue:

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Reply 4784

smilepea

Craghyrax

Actually the theory is very useful and fruitful to understanding societal problems in Education. However, if its taught badly and overly simplisticly then it makes it pointless even bothering, frankly.

The Education lecture I went to on Monday managed to 'do' Durkheim, Weber, Marx, Bourdieu, Critical Theory and the basics of Discourse Analysis in roughly 15mins :eyeball:

(although 'butcher' may be a more accurate verb than 'do')

Put it this way: a 2hour in-depth lecture would only be adequate for any one of those areas if accompanied by a reasonable amount of reading :shifty:

That's the thing though they don't actually do the theory, it's more a 2hr introduction to a social theorist and that's about it (So I can't tell you much on Weber's theorys even though I've had a 2 hr lecture on him :frown:

Reply 4785

Y__

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1243

Apparetly, he really got detained... well, I surely feel so much safer now that I know that the border control are keeping all the evil dudes out :tongue:

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I thought that was kinda weird too - it's normally people-from-anywhere-else-in-the-world complaining about the US's insanely suspicious border controls, not the other way around.

Reply 4786

OP

Y__

...I surely feel so much safer now that I know that the border control are keeping all the evil dudes out :tongue:

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Sod safety :grumble:

Reply 4787

OP

smilepea

That's the thing though they don't actually do the theory, it's more a 2hr introduction to a social theorist and that's about it (So I can't tell you much on Weber's theorys even though I've had a 2 hr lecture on him :frown:

Yes, its pointless. I'm commiserating with you. Read wikipedia instead. Or Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Actually go for SEP every time you can...

And maybe take more important work with you to the lectures, just in case. I think I'll start doing this. I've just successfully scheduled a supervision from a better paper for the same time as an Education lecture :awesome:

Although this was more of a fortuitous coincidence. Still I may be taking work along next time. And my dictaphone.

Reply 4788

alex_hk90

19

ukdragon37

Just do what you see tourists do all the time. E.g.:

1) Goto King's Parade
2) Buy an "I <3 Cambridge" hoodie
3) Take pictures of King's Chapel
4) Ask a student hurrying to lectures where King's College is, even though you are practically on the door step.
5) Expect to get directions on how to get to Girton.

lol

sm92

Central tourist activities
*Visit colleges / the backs
*Go to the Choral Service at King's Chapel
*Climb the tower at Great St Mary's (opposite the Senate House) and look out over Cambridge
*Go to the market / shops
*Get free fudge samples at the Fudge Kitchen
*punt (if the weather's ok)
*Go to the Fitzwilliam Museum

Thanks.

smilepea

What you thought that I actually wanted to teach?!

That is kind of the logical progression from an Education degree, yes.

Reply 4789

OP

Ok so can people answer some technical questions?

1: Is there any way to convert a Word 2007 document into a format open-able by my new computer's Word 97-03? Only they managed to extract all my data from a harddrive running Vista and Office 07 to a laptop running XP and Office 03 :facepalm:

2: If I'm forced to replace my laptop in a couple of weeks, is it worth considering using a Mac? Why do people prefer them? For style and coolness, or are they actually functionally superior? A short list of pros and cons for Windows versus Apple (or whatever the distinction is) in terms of hardware would be nice if anybody feels so inclined.

Reply 4790

Craghyrax

And maybe take more important work with you to the lectures, just in case. I think I'll start doing this.

It's not school! And you don't have to sign a register. If the lecture is *****, why bother with it at all?

Reply 4791

Blaah Blaah

Y__

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1243

Apparetly, he really got detained... well, I surely feel so much safer now that I know that the border control are keeping all the evil dudes out :tongue:

.

This is funny because my supervisor mentioned these comics today and I'd never heard of them before.

Reply 4792

OP

Tom

It's not school! And you don't have to sign a register. If the lecture is *****, why bother with it at all?

Because it does have some annoying use.
In first year I decided I didn't need my lectures, that I was going to do the reading anyway, and to take the sleep instead. I got a low 2.1.

In second year I decided I would make an enormous effort to go to all lectures, even if only to be in the know as to which texts and pieces of information the lecturer preferred, and to make a note and learn all of these in the exam. An annoying practice which should be unecessary, but it played a part in boosting the marks...

If I stop going to lectures I ought to just jump papers now :frown:

And I don't know about that.

In short - its complicated.

Reply 4793

Craghyrax

Ok so can people answer some technical questions?

1: Is there any way to convert a Word 2007 document into a format open-able by my new computer's Word 97-03? Only they managed to extract all my data from a harddrive running Vista and Office 07 to a laptop running XP and Office 03

2: If I'm forced to replace my laptop in a couple of weeks, is it worth considering using a Mac? Why do people prefer them? For style and coolness, or are they actually functionally superior? A short list of pros and cons for Windows versus Apple (or whatever the distinction is) in terms of hardware would be nice if anybody feels so inclined.

1) Possibly. First easy thing you could do is download Word 2007 reader from microsoft's website (google it). That will allow you to open at it at least. Maybe that will let you go Save As --> Word 2003 format. If not, you might have to google for a program to do the conversion or just use Open Office.

2) Macs are functionally identical to windows laptops in terms of hardware, only they charge 1.5 to 2 times the price for the same equipment. You're paying for them to look a bit more stylish, and for the Mac OS X operating system.

I have to work with that OS every day, and every day I curse how badly designed it is. Tasks that should be simple just aren't, and it never allows you to adjust things to just how you like them. *However* that is an opinion coming from a geeky guy who's very used to Windows; for the average user, there's probably not much difference, and in a few respects the Mac OS is better to use. For every everyday task you will likely do, it will operate in much the same way (since you will be installing the same standard programs - MS word/excel, and Firefox) as you would on a Windows laptop. So, um, yeah, basically not worth the extra cash IMO.

edit: Macs tend to run a bit smoother on cheaper systems as well. Like, you can buy a cheap and crappy laptop that will really struggle to run windows and will feel slow, but Apple tend to match their OS to limited hardware a bit better in my experience.

Reply 4794

TheUnbeliever

16

Craghyrax

1: Is there any way to convert a Word 2007 document into a format open-able by my new computer's Word 97-03? Only they managed to extract all my data from a harddrive running Vista and Office 07 to a laptop running XP and Office 03 :facepalm:

Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack will let you open them in 2003. I'd recommend then saving them in 2003 format and working from that.

Reply 4795

OP

Blaah

This is funny because my supervisor mentioned these comics today and I'd never heard of them before.

They're amazing. Although you may only begin to relate to them later on into the year (possibly)

Reply 4796

OP

TheUnbeliever

Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack will let you open them in 2003. I'd recommend then saving them in 2003 format and working from that.

Reply 4797

Y__

13

Blaah

This is funny because my supervisor mentioned these comics today and I'd never heard of them before.

That is indeed strange, even more so because you have a Dinosaur Comic panel in your sig and hence are not totally oblivious to webcomics.

That indeed makes a good topic for TSR chat: What are your favorite webcomics? I love Sam and Fuzzy :yes:

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Reply 4798